IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE

THE RETURN OF TREVOR RABIN

The former Yes and ARW musician and soundtrack composer returns with his first collection of solo vocal material for 34 years.

Trevor Rabin has found his voice again on new solo album Rio.

PRESS/HRISTO SHINDOV

Trevor Rabin has revealed the debt of gratitude he owes to his wife, Shelley May, as he prepares to release his new studio album, Rio, on October 6 via InsideOut. This, his sixth solo album, is the first collection of vocal-led material from the South African-born , multiinstrumentalist, composer and producer since Can’t Look Away in 1989. It also makes a marked detour from his celebrated film score work. His previous solo album, 2012’s Jacaranda, was an instrumental affair.

“There was quite a lot of pressure to make a record like this, and those demands have bordered upon insult – largely from my wife,” Rabin tells Prog.“She told me,‘Fuck the films, get your own record done.’So I owe a lot of the credit to her.”

Since leaving Yes following 1994’s Talk and largely as a prequel to touring as part of Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman (ARW) in 2016, the musician has carved out a successful career as a composer of soundtracks for a wide number of Hollywood movies including the blockbusters Armageddon (1998), Gone In 60 Seconds (2000) and the action sequel Bad Boys II (2003).

“Once I joined Yes I did one solo album [Can’t Look Away] in that time and 10 years from my life seemed to vanish,”says Rabin as he ponders the motivation behind the origins of Rio.“I did the instrumental album [Jacaranda], which wasn’t really a planned thing, and then I became involved in film scores so everything else in my musical world was put on the backburner. With this one I really had to clear the decks.”

He continues: “I’ve done 30-odd movies with [Academy Award-winning producer] Jerry Bruckheimer, and it took me saying,‘I’m not feeling it on this one’to find the time to make this album. There’s a lot of pressure in movies; you have to deliver. That forced me to have a little more self-discipline. And of course with Yes, you’re dealing with a business.”

“I just wanted to get into what, for me, were a few different areas.”

Getting back into the business of making a solo album would prove a wonderful experience for Rabin, though he’s a little mystified as to why it took him so long to do so.

“I really enjoyed it and I don’t know what caused me to stop [making my own music]… just a lack of discipline, I guess,” theorises Rabin, who elected to play just about all of the instruments himself while following a somewhat eclectic path.

“I even considered calling the album The Demographic Nightmare,” he says with a laugh. “I just wanted to get into what, for me, were a few different areas, even doing some countrytype stuff. There’s some prog things and a political song about the nightmare of the Oklahoma bombing, but overall there are several styles going on.”

Lou Molino from ARW performed quite a few of the drum parts, with Rabin’s son, Mason, helping out on some of the most important percussive arrangements. The album cover features a painting by Rabin himself –“I didn’t really want something big like Roger Dean,” the musician insists.

All of which does rather beg the milliondollar question of whether Trevor expects fans of Yes to enjoy Rio.

“I haven’t even thought about that because doing so would influence me,” Rabin replies. “When I wrote most of the material that appeared on 90125 it was before I had anything to do with Yes.”

Perhaps more importantly for his fans, Rabin does harbour aspirations for taking Rio out on the road.“That’s the plan,” he affirms.“I very much hope we can make it happen.” A sonic carnival surely awaits. See www.trevorrabin.net for more.

DML

DAVID LONGDON’S DEBUT SOLO REISSUED

The remixed, remastered and expanded edition will be released in October.

David Longdon’s legacy continues.

PRESS/SOPHOCLES ALEXIOU

Wild River, the debut solo album from the late Big Big Train singer David Longdon, is to be reissued in a remixed, remastered and expanded form through English Electric Recordings on October 12.

Originally released in 2004, Wild River has been out of print for some time – although Longdon always had plans to remix and repackage the album, his tragic death in November 2021 meant this never happened. However, in a final act of remembrance by his longtime colleague and Big Big Train’s noted engineer Rob Aubrey, Longdon’s wishes have now been fulfilled. The album packaging has also been redesigned by the artist’s friend and collaborator, Steve Vantsis.